Police at G20: who's going to look after us?

Jessica Grewal
Senior Reporter APN Newsdesk NSW Bureau
Working from Sydney, Jessica specialises in crime/court reporting, filing for APN’s regional mastheads in Northern NSW as well as providing national content for the group.
She was previously Chief Reporter at the Fraser Coast Chronicle in Hervey Bay, Queensland where she grew up and trained.
Early in her career, she was named Queensland Young Journalist of the Year at the Clarion Awards.
More recently, she was finalist at the 2013 Kennedy Awards for Excellence in NSW Journalism in both the...

POLICE will be in short supply as more than half of the state's force is plucked from regional stations and placed on G20 duties later this year.

At least 37 local police - 20 from Hervey Bay and 17 from Maryborough - will be among the 4000 police packing their bags as global dignitaries descend on Brisbane in November.

It's a massive operation which Queensland Police Union general secretary Mick Barnes acknowledges is necessary for the protection of world leaders and the public but one which is also sure to stretch already strained local resources.

From next month until the end of November, Wide Bay police and all civilian staff face a blanket ban on taking leave to ensure there are enough officers staffing the region's stations.

Courts will not sit in Cairns during the Finance Minister's meeting next month and all court dates have been cleared across the state for the duration of the Brisbane Leaders Summit.

The police union has pledged to monitor working conditions and police strength at all stations which have been forced to shed staff for the summit.

Mr Barnes said Hervey Bay and Maryborough officers had been told they would be working eight-hour shifts with up to four hours overtime while their colleagues were in Brisbane.